The Gold Standard of Injury Law

Gilbert Personal Injury Lawyer

If you were injured in a recent accident, a Gilbert personal injury lawyer could help you understand your rights and available options to pursue financial recovery. An attorney could explain what Arizona laws may apply to your injury case and could assist you at each point in the legal process, whether facilitating settlement talks with the insurance company or filing a lawsuit in court.

Time Limits on Gilbert Personal Injury Lawsuits

As with other states, Arizona law sets a statute of limitations that establishes a time limit on filing injury claims. This statutory deadline impacts any claim the plaintiff might file in court following an injury or accident. Arizona Revised Statutes § 12-542(1) (2016) gives injured individuals two years to file a lawsuit in relation to a personal injury.

Generally, this two-year time limit begins running on the date of the plaintiff’s accident. However, if the individual incurs a hidden injury that they do not discover right away, the two-year clock might start on the date of discover, rather than the accident date. Our Gilbert personal injury lawyers can help the injured victims understand the time limits which could apply to their claim and pursue a case within the appropriate deadline.

Gilbert’s Comparative Negligence Doctrine

Arizona courts adhere to the comparative negligence rule when awarding damages in personal injury cases, meaning that if the plaintiff is found to be partially at fault for their injuries, any financial award will be reduced by their percentage of blame.

According to Arizona’s comparative negligence laws, the injured individual is permitted to recover compensation even if they are 99 percent at fault. So, if the plaintiff is allotted 30 percent of fault in the accident, their total monetary compensation would be reduced by 30 percent. However, the law does bar recovery by the plaintiff if they intentionally contributed to or caused the injury.

The majority of personal injury matters in Arizona depend on the legal doctrine of negligence. To be successful in a negligence claim, the plaintiff must prove the following:

The defendant owed them some duty of care, such as the duty of a doctor to attend to the health of their patients

The defendant breached their duty and did not exert reasonable care

The defendant’s actions directly caused the plaintiff’s injury

The plaintiff suffered damages as a result

Does Arizona Law Cap Damages in Personal Injury Cases?

A damages cap is a limit on compensation established by law that places a ceiling on how much the injured person can recover in certain types of cases. Arizona explicitly prohibits damage caps, as detailed in Article 2, Section 31 of the state’s constitution. A Gilbert lawyer could help the plaintiff obtain a range of damages in a personal injury case, including the following:

Economic damages

Non-economic damages

Punitive damages

Economic damages help to compensate the injured party for monetary losses incurred by their injury, such as medical costs and lost wages. Non-economic damages exist to compensate the individual for non-monetary consequences stemming from their injuries, such as emotional distress, pain, and suffering. Finally, punitive damages are designed to punish the at-fault party for their actions and deter similar conduct in the future.

How a Gilbert Personal Injury Lawyer Could Help

If you have sustained serious injuries in a recent accident, it is vital to have an experienced Gilbert personal injury lawyer on your side to maximize your chances of recovery. Contact Goldwater Law Firm at 602-502-6000 or fill our online form to schedule a free case evaluation.